| Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money. |
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今天，人人都愿意接受货币，用以换回商品和劳务。人们用货币购买他们所需要的或想得到的食品、家具、书籍、自行车及其它数百种商品。在工作中人们得到的报酬通常是货币。 |
| Most of the money today is made of metal or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells2. |
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现在，大多数货币是用金属或纸张制作的,但人类曾经使用各式各样的商品作为货币。在最初出现的货币中有一种是贝壳。 |
| Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, skin, sheep, corn, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks3, monkey tails, and salt were used as money in parts of Africa. |
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充当货币的商品不仅仅是贝壳。在中国古代，兽皮、山羊、玉米、棉布和刀等都充当过货币；在菲律宾群岛，稻谷在很长一段时间里都充当货币；象牙、猴尾巴、盐等在非洲部分地区也充当过货币。 |
| Cattle4 were one of the earliest kinds of money. Other animals were used as money, too. |
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牛是最早的货币形式之一，其它的牲畜也充当过货币。 |
| The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. People strung them together and carried them from place to place. |
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最早的金属货币是由中国铸造的，它们呈圆形，中间有一个方孔。人们将金属铸币用绳子穿起来，随身携带。 |
| Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin. Sweden and Russia used copper5 to make their money. Later, countries began to make coins of gold and silver. |
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各国用各种不同的金属铸造货币并绘上各种不同的图案。英国最早的货币是用锡铸造的，瑞典和俄罗斯的货币是用铜铸造的，后来各国开始用金银铸造货币。 |
| But even gold and silver were inconvenient6 if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money.The First paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today. |
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但若要购买贵重的商品，即使用金银铸币也很不方便。于是，中国人想出了一个改进货币的方法，并开始使用纸币。与其说最初的纸币类似我们现在使用的纸币，还不如说它更象一张李四写给张三的便条。 |
| Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell1 money until today. |
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从贝壳货币时代至今，货币有一段非常有趣的演变史 |
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